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Yearly crime rate stagnant from 2011 to 2012
By Anthony Tosie, atosie@starlocalnews.com
Frisco's yearly crime rate was relatively unchanged from 2011 to 2012, interim Police Chief John Bruce announced at Tuesday's City Council meeting.
In terms of overall crime, there were only two more incidents reported in 2012 than 2011 -- 3,183 incidents were reported last year compared to 3,181 the previous year -- representing a change of less than one tenth of one percent.
Council members considered the minor change in incidents good news, noting that the crime rate had actually decreased on a per capita basis, meaning fewer crimes were reported for every 1,000 residents in the city.
In terms of major violent crimes, no murders were reported in 2012, down from two in 2011. Assaults were similarly down, from 627 in 2011 to 586 in 2012. Reported rapes were up threefold, however, from five in 2011 to 15 in 2012.
Despite the good news, Bruce said theft remains an issue of concern for the police department, as 83 more theft-related incidents were reported in 2012 compared to 2011.
When asked by Mayor Maher Maso if there were any possible solutions to the increase in thefts, Bruce replied that residents need to remember to lock their vehicles and take valuables when they leave.
"The great majority of vehicles that are burglarized now are unlocked," he said. "Residents need to keep valuables hidden or take them [when they leave their vehicles]. A lot of these are crimes of opportunity -- [thieves] are checking doors to see if they're unlocked, and if they are they'll find things like iPads."
While vehicles were burglarized more frequently, the amount of stolen vehicles in the city actually decreased substantially.
Only three vehicles were reported stolen in December 2012, and only 59 vehicles were reported stolen in the city all of last year, the lowest amount since 2008. In 2011, by comparison, 100 vehicles were reported stolen in the city.
Besides the crime rates, Bruce also reported on two initiatives the police department undertook in the past year -- the use of vehicles with specialized cameras to document criminal vehicles and a specialized patrolman who monitored a single neighborhood last year.
In the latter case, the patrolman monitored the community to improve connections and find out how residents interacted with the police department.
"That officer responded only to Rolling Brook Drive," Bruce said. "He's developing [relationships] with the residents of that community, trying to see if they're opening up to us, and so far it seems that they are."
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